Intelligent Quality (IQ)
The IQ company in Germany, founded in 1974 (under the Dynamic
Pearl brandname, up until 1986) by Wolfgang Kisseler, makes
loudspeakers that wish to be known not only for Quality, which
they take to mean good finish, material and sound, but also
Intelligence, which, in an analogy, is descriptive of a person,
in all its complexities; i.e., instead of using numbers, the word
Intelligence says it all. And so it is with IQ loudspeakers. Not
described merely by measurements, but by it's
"Intelligence".

As far as I know (which isn't all that
much, given the relative lack of exposure IQ's been given in this
part of the world and the USA as well, till now of course), the
German company makes two lines of loudspeakers: the System T and
the System W. The T100 is number three of a four line system. The
System W is a line of 3 powered tower subwoofers.

Physical Quality
The T100 is a 3-way 5 speaker system (see photo with reflection
of rear in a mirror). High frequencies are handled by a 1
1/4" woven dome tweeter with a 48 ounce magnet. Mid-range is
a pair of front firing 4 1/2" drivers (made from HDA or
"High Definition Aerogel") flanking the tweeter. A
similar pair of 4 1/2" bass drivers are found on the rear of
the cabinet, together with 3 four-position level controls which
enable a listener to tailor the high, mid-range and low
frequencies of the loudspeaker. The computer designed crossover
networks consists of film capacitors and air-core inductors which
are point-to-point wire soldered.

The drivers are individually loaded by
their own chambers within what IQ calls a SoftSandwich cabinet;
this is actually a single layer of soft fibre embedded in an MDF
sandwich, which reduces cabinet resonance as well as minimizing
internal standing waves. A knuckle rap on the top, sides and
front baffle produces virtually nothing but just a dull thud if
you rap hard enough!

HALT!!
Audiophiles with children old enough to walk and poke, but not
nearly old enough to keep their fingers off fragile tweeters?
Stop right here.

NO grilles are provided. They aren't in the
box, and they aren't an option. Apparently, these speakers are
voiced naked and they must be used as such. The tweeters are
about 27 1/2" off the floor (speakers fitted with the
included spikes), and, so you'll have an idea, my 17-month
daughter can easily drive one tiny finger right into one. And I
wouldn't blame her. At that age, everything calls out to her!

My solution (not to worry, Tony; your
tweeters are safe)? I used a couple of old (but clean) T-shirts
to cover the speakers when I wasn't around (or more accurately,
when the little one was). A simple matter it was, then, to just
turn on the electronics (as described in the Titan review in Jan
1996), and strip off the Tee's when I wanted to listen to them.

Intelligence
First listens were misleading. After about 30 minutes (I like the
song) of the Eagles' Hotel California (Hell Freezes Over, Geffen
GED-24725), I turned to my other half and asked her (women do
have better hearing) what she thought of the T100's. "They
are very sharp". What that meant was: they were very
forward! Cymbals and vocals (Don Henley) stood right in front of
everything else. Actually, everything else was fine. The very
luxurious bass was rendered as accurately as I've heard it. Air
was there, as well, the tweeters doing justice to the myriad of
percussion instruments on The All Star Percussion Ensemble
(Golden String, GS CD 005).

The sound stage was very wide (narrow front
baffles did it) and fairly deep, though not as deep as my regular
Mirages. And the lower mid-range had snap and pace, certainly
snappier and pacier than the 1090i's. But that forwardness in the
upper midrange/lower treble was difficult to ignore.

I put on more music. Holst's Suite #1 in
E-Flat (Reference Recordings RR-39CD), then Aaron Neville's
Louisiana 1927 (Warm Your Heart, A&M 75021 5354 2), then
Stanley Clarke's East River Drive CD (Epic, EK 47489). And
others. And it got better and better. I logged about 2 hours a
day weekdays and up to 6 hours on weekends. I also used them for
movies. And after about 2 weeks (which makes about 45 hours), it
finally got to the point where the forwardness wasn't a problem
anymore, unless it was an exceptionally spitty recording. On the
majority of the large number of CD's and LP's I played back on
the T100's, what I found so inviting on them in that first
session was clearly evident.

And while it was fine with most music, I
found it a little too easy-going on explosive recordings like the
above mentioned Holst. On the other hand, Hotel California was
very, very enjoyable, especially between tracks when the audience
showed their appreciation of the Eagles' brand-new arrangement of
the track. On this, the T100's threw a very vivid sound stage
that was believable and at the same time, incredibly wide!

Low frequencies were given a treatment that
was almost gentle in its presentation. No drone, all tightness,
the twin woofers giving music a solid foundation that was
conspicuous only in it's absence; when I bi-amped the T100's, I
could simply turn off the bass amplifier, leaving the tweeter and
midrange's playing. And though there wasn't a drastic reduction
in stage depth or width when I did this, turning the bass
amplifier back on brought back that you-are-there sound stage.

On certain music and on some movies, I felt
the T100s were just a wee bit polite. Definitely not speakers for
the uninhibited rock fan. The frequency level controls affected
presentation only slightly (as they should). I found it most
natural with the mid-range controls at minimum and the low and
high frequencies up 1 notch. In your own room, experiment.

Frequency
response results (both speakers on):

Hz/dB

20/60

25/61

31.5/64

40/69

50/73

63/73

80/83

100/79

125/77

160/73

200/68

Hz/dB

250/74

315/71

400/74

500/73

630/75

800/74

1k/74

1.25k/74

1.6k/74

2k/74

Hz/dB

2.5k/77

3.15k/77

4k/78

5k/78

6.3k/78

8k/75

10k/69

12.5k/68

16k/64

20k/63

Summary

At a price of S$4,743, the IQ T100's are
expensive, but then again, a well-made cabinet that's both
visually appealing (the review pair came in perfectly-finished
walnut; very nice) and functional (terrific sound), doesn't come
cheap. The polite nature of the speakers may not suit rock/metal
fans, but if your cup of tea is a cup of tea, and not soft
drinks, I think you're going to enjoy them.